HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-04-14; City Council; ; Informational report on estimating the impact of implementing minute motionsCA Review CKM
Meeting Date: April 14, 2020
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Scott Chadwick, City Manager
Staff Contact: Laura Rocha, Deputy City Manager, Administrative Services
laura.rocha@carlsbadca.gov, 760-602-2415
Subject: Informational report on estimating the impact of implementing minute
motions
Recommended Action
Receive and consider an informational report on how staff plans to provide the City Council
with assessments on the impact of carrying out minute motions.
Executive Summary
The City Council approved a minute motion on Dec. 17, 2019, directing staff to provide
estimates of the cost, staff time and overall impact of carrying out City Council directions
contained in minute motions approved after that date.
This report provides the City Council with an overview of how staff plans to produce those
estimates.
Discussion
Minute motions allow members of a legislative body such as the Carlsbad City Council to offer
and approve motions on certain actions not requiring an ordinance or a resolution. This gives
council members the ability to entertain motions not put forth by staff.
They are addressed in Carlsbad Municipal Code Chapter 1.20.060(C), which says, in part:
“… Items of business may be placed on the agenda by any member of the council, the
city manager or the city attorney, or by council action. Council-originated items must be
submitted to the city manager not less than seven days before the date of the council
meeting at which the member desires the item to appear on the agenda. Nothing in this
section precludes a council member from requesting council action to place an item on
the agenda for a future meeting.”
As noted above, the City Council approved a minute motion that directed staff to provide the
City Council with the information it needed to assess the impact demands carrying out future
minute motions approved by the City Council.
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April 14, 2020 Item #8 Page 1 of 3
The motion said,
“To place on a future agenda item, when minute motions are presented, that
estimations be made for cost, manpower, and impact to workload to complete the
activity.”
To carry out this direction, staff plans to do the following:
Estimate the time it will take to fulfill the direction
City leaders and senior managers will assess how many staff hours will be required to
complete the tasks in each minute order to the City Council’s satisfaction. These
assessments will be based on professional experience and city history, the best practices
in municipal government, supervisors’ knowledge of their staff’s capabilities and
schedules and, perhaps, the time it took other agencies to complete similar tasks.
Calculate the cost of the staff time that would be required
Staff will then produce a basic estimate of the expense entailed in the staff hours that
would need to be dedicated to complete the work, based on overall employee
compensation. This needs to take the availability of key employees into account, that is,
whether a particular subject matter expert will be on vacation when her expertise is
needed, and someone else might need to be brought in to the project.
Assess the priority compared to other city plans and operations
Staff will also inform the City Council how the work required in the minute motion might
best fit into existing priorities established by the City Council, its plans and policies, and
city operations. The City Manager and staff would inform the City Council if executing a
minute order would divert resources dedicated to these other priorities.
Act with expediency
In making these assessments, staff will keep in mind the need for expediency, and will
strive to return to the City Council with this information within 30 days after a minute
order is approved by the City Council to seek direction on whether to proceed.
Staff’s goal in this approach is to provide the City Council with timely and accurate information
to help it make informed policy decisions directing city staff, in keeping with the Dec. 17, 2019,
minute order approved by the City Council.
For example, a minute motion asking staff to prepare a report on the financial benefits the city
has realized by purchasing hybrid vehicles would result in staff returning to the City Council
within 30 days with a brief presentation on the time and cost of carrying out the tasks and the
priority. That presentation would provide such information as, “This information would need to
be researched and analyzed but that is not a challenging task. Because of the large number and
different types of hybrid vehicles owned by the city, staff estimates it would take about 18
hours of staff time to complete this work, which, at the pay rate of the employees assigned,
April 14, 2020 Item #8 Page 2 of 3
would cost $1,730. However, the staff members with expertise in this area are facing a deadline
to complete a required update of the Climate Action Plan greenhouse gas reduction goals, so
this work could not be undertaken until after that high priority project is completed.”
Fiscal Analysis
Staff anticipates the amount of time and effort needed to perform these assessments can be
made in the course of normal city leadership, management and supervision, and will not entail
any additional costs to the city.
Next Steps
If the approach described above meets the City Council’s expectations, staff will begin
producing time, cost and priority or impact assessments of future minute motions as well as the
current list of outstanding approved minute orders.
Environmental Evaluation (CEQA)
This is an informational report so, in keeping with Public Resources Code section 21065, this
action does not constitute a “project” within the meaning of the California Environmental
Quality Act in that it has no potential to cause either a direct physical change in the
environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, and
therefore does not require further environmental review.
Public Notification
This item was noticed in accordance with the Ralph M. Brown Act and was available for public
viewing and review at least 72 hours prior to the scheduled meeting date.
Exhibits
None.
April 14, 2020 Item #8 Page 3 of 3
Estimating the Impact of Implementing
Minute Motions
Roxanne Muhlmeister, Finance Manager
April 14, 2020
Recommended Action
Receive a report on how staff plans to provide
the City Council with assessments on the
impact of carrying out minute motions.
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City Council Direction
•December 17, 2019, City Council approved a
minute motion directing staff to provide
estimates of the cost, staff time, and overall
impact of carrying out council directions
contained in minute motions
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Background
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•Minute motions allow City Council to offer and
approve motions on certain actions not requiring an
ordinance or resolution (Carlsbad Municipal Code
1.20.060.C)
•The December 17th minute motion required that
estimates be made for cost, manpower, and workload
impacts prior to items being placed on a future agenda
Resourcing Plan
To carry out City Council direction staff plans to:
•Estimate the time it will take to fulfill the direction
•Calculate the cost of required staff time
•Assess the priority compared to other city plans and
operations
•Act with expediency and strive to return with resourcing
information to City Council within 30 days
Next Steps
•If the resourcing plan outlined tonight meets
expectations, staff will begin producing time,
cost, and priority or impact assessments of
future minute motions
•Staff will produce this information for the current list of outstanding approved minute motion orders and return with the results at a future City Council meeting.
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